Head football coach Tim Glanton got his first win on his very own field as the South Paulding Spartans defeated the visiting Woodland Wildcats 27-3 on Sept. 21.

After losing their season opener to Rome, the Spartans got two back-to-back wins, with the last game being the first on the newly dedicated Timothy Glanton Field at South Paulding.

South Paulding was able to find the win column pretty easily in their games against Villa Rica and Woodland as they held both teams to a combined nine points and put up 48 points of their own.

So what happened to cause the Spartans to lose by 19 points against Rome but win convincingly afterwards?

“The team knew they took Rome for granted and decided to play disciplined football,” Glanton said.

As they took the Wolves for granted, South Paulding collected 111 rushing yards and 69 passing yards.

In their most recent game against the Wildcats, they got fewer passing yards, 59, but they were able to run the ball better as they racked up 177 yards on the ground.

In the win over Woodland, Glanton named two players that were most influential, Jae Bowen and Carnell Hopson.

Bowen had the biggest impact on the offensive side of the ball, rushing for most of the Spartans yards that night as he had 124 yards by himself. Bowens also scored one of the touchdowns for his team.

Hopson was the force on the defensive side as a big play stopper opposite the Wildcats’ offense. Hopson made 13 tackles and had two sacks on the Woodland quarterback.

The Woodland game was also the Spartans’ homecoming game and one of their players was named homecoming royalty.

Sophomore kicker for the junior varsity and varsity team, Brittany Havenner was named the Sophomore Homecoming Princess.

Havenner is South Paulding’s first female football player and has made quite a name for herself as she has not missed a single extra point this year, totaling seven.

“She has done very well and the whole school is very supportive,” said Havenner’s father, Joe Havenner.

As the only female on the team, Havenner’s male teammates look out for her on the field, not just as their kicker but as a younger sister, never letting anyone get close to her, Joe Havenner said.

Brittany has been kicking since she was 8 when she began playing soccer, and has no intention of stopping prior to graduation, he said.

The Spartans’ win streak came to a halt in a 28-14 loss to Allatoona last Friday night. They will face cross-county rival North Paulding this Friday night.